As is custom with Dwarves, the older dwarf has more authority than the younger, and to him is relayed all the knowledge of his forebears and their treasures also. In the line of Stouthammer, each Elder received the family heirlooms; the ring and key.
The ring was the symbol of our bloodline, a relic of Moria, worth little in craftsmanship, but worth everything in meaning. The key was the only means to open Stouthammer Hall, our family's home in the Blue Mountains, where lay hidden our vault of old and the great hoard of Nurvi Stouthammer and his descendants.
Upon death the Elder would pass on the ring and key to his son, who would keep them not but give them in turn to the eldest of their family. Fruni is the first non-Elder who has owned the ring and key. Fikli, Fingar's brother and the Elder of our family at the moment, is rightful keeper of the ring and key. But before he left for Erebor, he gave the ring and key to me to give to Fruni.
And so it was that Fruni became the 21st carrier of the ring and key and thus came to an end the tradition of the Elder Line.
